Bison return to Wanuskewin nearly 150 years later

The bison are back.

After a near 150-year absence, plains bison are once again roaming the prairies outside Saskatoon.

Eleven bison comprised of a group of six calves from Grassland National Park near Val Marie and a group of five bison from South Dakota — one bull and four pregnant females — were unveiled at Wanuskewin Heritage Park on Friday.

Wanuskewin CEO Darlene Brander couldn’t overstate the importance of seeing bison return to the national historic site known for its archaeological findings representing 6000 years of history.

“The bison have always symbolized connection between kinship and indigenous culture,” Brander said. “With the introduction of bison at Wanuskewin, we’re going to see a lot of people visit the park, and we’re have a lot of thoughtful discussion.”

Dr. Ernie Walker, a well-known anthropologist, archaeologist, and a founding member at Wanuskewin spoke of the difficulties in realizing a decades-long dream for Wanuskewin founders.

“It’s been 40 years. This project didn’t happen overnight,” Walker said, alluding to the year the heritage park was conceived. “This is what the elders talked about in the early days. We thought we had a way of making it happen.”

Dr. Ernie Walker, co-founder of Wanuskewin, speaks to reporters on Jan. 18, 2020. (Keenan Sorokan/650 CKOM)

Walker estimated 26 million to 30 million bison were alive around 1600 AD. By 1872, less than 1000 remained on the prairies.

For Walker, the most remarkable facet of the small herd is its pure genes.

The five American bison’s ancestry can be traced back to Yellowstone National Park, while the six bison from Grassland National Park can be traced back to the famous Pablo-Allard herd, known for helping save the species from extinction near the turn of the 19th century.

“The significance is, that if we put these two animals together, we will have animals that are as close to 1872 as possible,” Walker said.

The bison from Grasslands National Park arrived for a private ceremony on Dec.7 before their American counterparts joined them a few weeks later.

The four pregnant bison are expected to give birth in April.

The reintroduction project was all made possible by a $5-million donation from Wayne Brownlee, the former CFO of Nutrien, who also put considerable support behind the $40-million Thundering Ahead Campaign.

The campaign is expected to help the park achieve United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) world heritage site designation. Plans are on track to complete that goal by 2022 or 2023, according to Brander.

“We are building a conservation herd unlike any other one I can think of,” Walker said.

“Wanuskewin is going to be a big player in bison well beyond what we ever intended to do.”